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Digital personas

January 3, 2007 — Mike McGrath

Ross Mayfield posts a link to Danah Boyd’s interesting research regarding ephemeral online profiles among teens. While creating multiple accounts and profiles is a byproduct of forgotten handles and passwords, the phenomenon also demonstrates that many teens are still searching for an understanding of who they are. Its a time when values, friends, and opinions shift like springtime winds. It doesn’t surprise me that kids may want to try out new personas. See if it fits.

That’s the idea behind multiple personas on platforms like PeopleAggregator. The designers recognize that even adults may wish to have a work persona, a weekend persona, or even a spring break persona. Having only one login to manage multiple personas seems like a step in the right direction.